Res (singer)

Shareese Renée Ballard, better known by her stage name Res, is an American singer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her musical style is a blend of indie pop, soul, and rock.

Solo career
Res released her debut album, How I Do, in 2001 along with its first single "Golden Boys." Despite heavy rotation on VH1, the song did not catch on in radio play. "Ice King" (Remixed by Nas) emerged as the second single later that year but also failed to break through with radio audiences and no video was filmed. In early 2002, Res released the third single from How I Do, "They-Say Vision." The song and accompanying video were breakthrough hits and reached #1 on the Billboard Dance chart and #37 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. With the chart success of the single, the album entered the Billboard 200 for the first time. A fourth single, "Sittin' Back," was also released but did not enjoy the same success as "They-Say Vision."

Meanwhile, in 2002, Res appeared on a track with Tony Allen, Ray Lema, Baaba Maal, Positive Black Soul and Archie Shepp for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot and Riot, a tribute to Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. Res also performed a cover of Jefferson Starship song, "Miracles" for the Jennifer Lopez movie Maid in Manhattan.

In 2003, her record label, MCA Records, was phased out by MCA Inc. and absorbed by Geffen Records. Res was later released from her contract at her request after the label refused to release any further work despite paying her contracted label salary. After parting ways with Geffen, Res was called upon to model for Marc Ecko's "Ecko Red" clothing line and appeared in print advertising.

In 2006, Res recorded "To Empower" for the soundtrack of the drama film Akeelah and the Bee. She joined Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere tour providing supporting vocals while writing and recording material for her second album.

In 2009, Res released her second album Black.Girls.Rock! through digital media available on iTunes. The album features tracks originally recorded for her shelved Geffen album. Black.Girls.Rock! is described by Res as "more of a singer/songwriters album than my debut. Great, classic songs!" Res funded a limited production run of vinyl pressings.

On February 14, 2011, Res released a compilation of unreleased demos and remixed songs titled A Box of Chocolates after the Forrest Gump quote. The digital-only album is mixed by DJ NI** Sky (Nicole Albino of Nina Sky) and features a blend of music from multiple genres of music. The album was intended as a Valentine's Day gift to her fans as they awaited a proper release of Black.Girls.Rock!.

In 2013, Res signed with Javotti Media/EOne Records and her third studio album, 'Reset', was scheduled to be released on September 15, 2016. As of June 2018, the album had not been released, but an Indigogo campaign for the album had raised $39,000. <!-- commenting out to save the work done until it can be rewritten In October 2010, Res single handedly started a weekly event in her hometown of Philadelphia called RESET. This event was cleverly named after her new album RESET which she has been working on in Toronto. The event dubbed RESET was extremely special to the Philadelphia music scene, simply because there was and still is no other event like it to date. Res hosted and performed with her full band which included 3 guitar players, a bassist, drummer, keyboardist and horn section, every Sunday in October-December at Silk City Lounge. Instead of just holding on to the spotlight alone, Res opened up her event to a slew of amazing unknown female indie rock artists, bands and singer-songwriters. Each week was curated by Res and each female artist was handpicked by Res. She wanted to make sure that the best of the best female indie rock and punk artists had the chance to grace the stage in front of a large number of Philadelphia's most musically diverse tastemakers and die hard music fans. It was very important for Res to create an environment for female rock artist to feel welcomed, considering Philadelphia is the known for their Neo-soul and conscious rap scene. RESET will resume in Philadelphia in Spring of 2011! Res has plans of extending this event to other cities such as DC, New York City as well as Oakland and Los Angeles. Res also heavily documented the entire 3 month stint and has posted a weekly webisode. Movie producer, Steve Zegans reached out to Res and has taken interest in her story. Together, they have begun filming a 60min documentary on Res and RESET. Res is a part of the new wave of indie artists, Zegans has been along to capture her story in a very intimate yet unique way.

Res was chosen for the cover story of Philadelphia Weekly, Oct 3, 2010 issue. She was asked about her return home and her hot event RESET at Silk City, and quite frankly " what she has been up to since her last release!" In the beginning of 2011, Res has completed a number of remakes and remixes which she is released independently thru her Soundcloud account. She is an unique artist who has effortlessly master a few genre's too make them her own. She has remade Neil Young's obscure classic "Don't Let It Bring You Down", Kanye West's hit single "Say You Will" from the 808 Heartbreak Record with rappers Talib Kweli and Ab Liva, 1980s cult classic "Metro" by Berlin and the stellar "On The Radio" by Donna Summer.

Finally on February 14, Res released her highly anticipated mixtape named "A Box of Chocolate". The title of her mixtape is in response to having a few different genre's and styles displaced in the songs that make up her style and the vibe mixtape. During the event RESET, Res was able to experiment with her new songs from an EP she completed called ReFried Mac. This EP was released on October 29, 2013 and produced by Res and Tom Spiker. Res has an undying love for classic rock band Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks and has chosen 5 of her all time favorite songs to remake in her own way. She chose "Edge of Seventeen", "Dreams", "Rhiannon", "Little Lies" and "The Chain". WXPN Radio's Program Director Bruce Warren caught wind of the songs and invited Res to the station, after hearing the songs from ReFried Mac, he asked if he could add them to his station. They are in heavy rotation along with a few songs from her debut album How I Do.

Res also completed a tour supporting Talib Kweli in Northern California in January 2011. The duo performed 90 min plus sets with DJ Spintellect. Res played the supporting role as vocalists and "hype-girl" as well as stepping into the spotlight to perform her hits "Golden Boys" and"Ice King" as well as Steady and Idle Warship hit dance single! Her solo songs were well received as if they were released a few weeks before-->

Idle Warship
In 2009, Res joined long-time collaborator and emcee Talib Kweli to form a hip-hop/electro duo known as Idle Warship. They released a few teaser tracks online including a song named "Steady", that borrows from "Sunglasses At Night" by Corey Hart. In June 2009, Idle Warship completed their first headlining tour through Europe. They performed to sold-out crowds in Switzerland, Norway, France and Germany. Idle Warship has produced a mixtape called Party Robots made available for download in October 2010 on Res' official site.

Their debut album, Habits of the Heart, was released on November 1, 2011. The first single from this debut, "Laser Beams", was produced by DJ Khalil and The New Royales.

Discography
Studio albums
 * 2001: How I Do (MCA Records)
 * 2009: Black.Girls.Rock! (currently unavailable — only 1000 copies printed)
 * 2024: How I Do (RESET) (Javotti Media/EOne Records)

Collaborations
 * 2011: Habits of the Heart (with Talib Kweli as Idle Warship) (Blacksmith Records/Fontana)

Compilations
 * 2010: Party Robots Mixtape (with Talib Kweli as Idle Warship)
 * 2011: A Box of Chocolates (digital only, available on Res' official site)

EPs
 * 2013: ReFried Mac EP (digital only, Javotti Media/EOne Records)